OCEANSIDE: Making Mission Avenue two lanes, one way is top priorty

Narrowing Mission Avenue from four to two lanes downtown, making it one-way heading toward the beach, and sprucing it up was picked by the Oceanside City Council Wednesday as the top priority for spending nearly $11 million the city has left in redevelopment money.

Building a 360-space parking garage at Pier View Way and Cleveland Street was chosen as the second priority, with any leftover money earmarked for construction of new beach restrooms.

The vote was 3-1 with Mayor Jim Wood absent. Councilmen Jack Feller, Jerry Kern and Gary Felien voted to set the two projects as the top priorities. Councilwoman Esther Sanchez voted no.

The $11 million is redevelopment bond money the city can still spend on downtown projects despite the state-mandated dissolution of redevelopment agencies across California, city redevelopment manager Kathy Brann said.

Sanchez said she preferred that planned construction of five new beach restrooms at an estimated cost of $2.2 million should be given preference over other projects, with construction of two proposed parking garages next in line.

"There was a whole lot of support for this," Sanchez said of the restrooms. She said she'd prefer building parking garages downtown over the Mission Avenue improvements.

If the city is to lure investors downtown, providing parking is essential, Sanchez said.

The council in December approved the first phase of the Mission Avenue project to make the street one-way westbound and narrow it from four lanes to two between Clementine Street and Coast Highway. Nearby Seagaze Drive would become one-way eastbound between Coast Highway and Clementine Street with two lanes of traffic.

The first phase of the Mission Avenue project would cost an estimated $2.1 million. A second phase, which would extend the changes to Mission Avenue between Coast Highway and Cleveland Street, is estimated to cost $800,000 to $900,000, Brann said.

At least some of the Mission Avenue improvements could be covered by a grant the city plans to seek from the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG), Brann said.

If the SANDAG money comes through, that could free up some of the $11 million to go for the beach restrooms, Brann said.

MainStreet Oceanside director Rick Wright said improving Mission Avenue was "the holy grail" for the downtown businesses he represents.

"We have worked so hard on this project," Wright said. "We put a lot of effort getting consensus among property owners, business owners."

Longtime downtown resident John Daley said completing the Mission Avenue phase was critical. He said the city should complete both phases of the project now.

"It is the entrance to downtown," said Daley said, owner of the 101 Cafe. "That's where people access the city."

Daley said he'd rather see money spent on the beach restrooms than a parking garage.

Jimmy Knott, who regularly comments on a wide range of projects during council sessions, said the restrooms should get top priority because they serve tourists.

"Our main source of income lately has been tourism," Knott said.

Beach resident Pamela Myers said beachgoers have long pushed for new restrooms, which she said were more important than improving Mission Avenue.